Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Act Repsonsibly! Don't Vote!

It is commonly said, 'If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the outcome.' The opposite is true: By playing the game, voters agree to the rules. Only those who don't play and withhold their consent have a right to complain about the outcome, especially since the winner will have his hand in the non-voter's pocket.

Those who say their vote is wasted are generally correct, as well. Almost all of us live in states and congressional districts which lean strongly one way or the other, and since each jurisdiction is winner-take-all, one person's vote matters very little.

It is not possible to vote "against" a candidate by voting for another candidate. We have no such thing as a vote of no-confidence in this country. The closest we have is the non-vote. Or a vote for a third party. And the only one of those to attract any of my interest is, naturally enough, the Libertarian Party.